New Partner Day
by Bammi and Runner
Summary: A somewhat humorous look at Alex and Bobby's first day as partners
1. First meeting

**New Partner Day**

by bammi1 & Runner

_Summary_: All of you who may recognize the combination of "Day" in the title and 06:00 am in the first line may be assured that this is NOT a coincidence. We just don't have a groundhog in here. :D

Disclaimer: No, we don't own them. We don't own the movie either.

A/N: Something funny about our favorite duo. Enjoy!

**Ch1**

The digital numbers flipped onto 06:00 a.m., the radio crackled to life and started with an announcement:

_In New York City's war on crime the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the Detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories._

_doing doing_

A music piece followed, shaking Detective Robert _Bobby_ Goren out of sleep. Bobby plopped back down in bed... this wasn't how he wanted their first day as partners to start... With him getting a royal headache, due to the play they were airing on the radio, right when the alarm started.

First day... new partner... everything had to be perfect today. He definitely didn't want this to be another missed chance with a partner, he had already been through too many. All he knew about his new partner was that his name was Alex. Damn it, this time it was going to work.

After his morning shower he shaved. It was not necessary to greet his new partner with three day's stubble. When he finally was dressed he looked like the prototype of a high profile case working cop: moderately elegant and trustworthy. Yes, he could go like this. He skipped breakfast because he was, yes, kind of nervous, and headed for his car.

Of course, first thing, the car wouldn't start. Great! He fiddled around a bit, checked his watch, and decided he couldn't wait. Now he didn't even have time to walk to the subway, he'd be lucky to make it if he ran.

So he took off as fast as he could, inwardly cursing because he would now be all sweaty due to the run, but he had to be at One Police Plaza in time. One last corner, then he would head downstairs. When he rounded it, he ran right into a young woman, more precisely into the leashes of the five dogs she was walking.

Bobby, and the woman both fell in heap, half on top of the dogs, half the dogs on top of them. Next thing they knew, they were all tangled up together, both trying desperately to escape. Finally, they both burst out laughing.

"Sorry," Bobby started, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay," she said, blushing a little.

As both tried to stand up, helping the other, the dogs jumped on them, knocking them both down again. Now both laughed, a little less heartily this time, as Bobby checked his watch again. He tried to untangle himself from the leashes, but the more he tried, the more dogs climbed over him. He was actually tied up, and more than a little mussed.

"Wait, wait," the woman pleaded. "You'll never get loose when you wriggle around like that." She tried to calm him down while she disentangled the leashes.

There he went.

A bit clumsily he got up again. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "You're okay?"

"Yes. You were in a hurry. Off you go, off."

She shooed him away and he ran to the subway station.

The train was just getting ready to leave.

"NO!" Bobby yelled. _This is not going to happen,_ he thought, just making it into the car as the doors slid shut - catching the end of his jacket, stopping him dead. Bobby sighed, and started pulling at his jacket. Finally it came loose, or at least the part in his hand. The rest was still caught in the door. Again Bobby checked his watch. _Still might make it_, he thought. Then catching his reflection in the window, _although not exactly the impression I was trying to make..._

During the ride he tried to clean himself up a bit. He sighed as he looked at his appearance.

_This will impress him_, he thought. _And I don't even want to know what Deakins will think. What chance is there that there's another jacket in my locker at the crib_?

At his final destination he left the train and sprinted up the stairs, then over to Police Plaza, passing the Five Boroughs sculpture, and heading into the headquarters.

As he entered the plaza, one of the detectives stopped him.

"Hey Goren!" Noticing Bobby's disheveled look, he said sarcastically, "going undercover?"

Bobby thought about cleaning the guy's clock, but for lack of time decided against it. Besides, what kind of impression would that make on his new partner? And first impressions _did_ count. Taking another look at his clothes, knowing his face was dirty and his hair all mussed, Bobby decided, _undercover it is!_ At least that's where he'd tell his new partner he'd been.

Entering the squad room he looked over to Deakins' office where the blinds were drawn.

Maybe he made it in time? He got the other jacket out of his locker and just stopped long enough at his desk to read one of the notes left there, then he continued to his boss' office.

"Good luck," one of his colleagues mumbled, not to Bobby but to his own partner. "He'll need it."

_Could the new detective be so bad? They would not partner me with a bloody rookie, would they? Hell, no, this is Major Case after all..._

Straightening up he knocked and entered Deakins office.

In his nervousness, he completely forgot about his appearance, which hadn't changed much even with the fresh jacket, and strode in confidently.

Deakins stared at him. _Good God, Goren, can't you even try? _he thought.

Bobby stopped short, looking at the petite blonde standing in front of him.

Deakins sighed, "Detective Goren, meet your new partner, Alex Eames. Alex, this is... Robert Goren."

Bobby held out his hand. Very hesitantly, Alex held out her hand in return, squinting in alarm at the dirty mess in front of her.

Suddenly Bobby remembered, "Oh, I'm uh... I've been... undercover..."

Deakins raised one eyebrow in astonishment. _Undercover? He isn't even working a case..._

Alex on the other hand was quite surprised to hear him stutter.

This was when Deakins' phone rang. He answered the call and his features became even sterner.

"Your call," he said, scribbling down an address. "Rodgers is already there. Call me before you talk to the ambassador."

"Well, uh, partner, you ready for our first case?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah... I guess so," Alex wasn't at all sure she was ready, but she went with it. "Do you do cases simultaneously?" she wondered.

"What?" Bobby said, "what do you mean?"

"Well, you show up here still in your undercover clothes for another case. Major Case must be tougher than I thought!"

"Oh, yeah... sometimes," Bobby stammered.

"And do you also work with K-9s? Cause you kind of smell like a dog," Alex wasn't sure if she was impressed... or what.

_She has a good nose_, Bobby thought. _I'm curious to find out if she'll use it at the scene, too_.

xxx

Arriving at the junkyard, the scene of the crime, and being shown the way to the dead body, they couldn't help but notice the various smells.

"Ah... lots of smells! Now we're getting into my territory!" Bobby murmured.

Alex squinted up at him in dismay, as they crossed the distasteful smelling junkyard, approaching the victim's remains.

"What do you...ewwww! What are you doing?"

Bobby was kneeling next to the body, his nose almost in the man's face. "Beer," he said. "German beer, Köstrizer Schwarzbier, by the smell of it."

Eames backed up a few feet. _Oh, dear God!_ she thought. _What have I gotten myself into?_

Next Bobby searched the suit of the man. Then he bowed closer over his abdomen to examine the stab wounds. Cautiously he poked them with his gloved hand.

"Trying to do my job again, Goren?" M.E. Rodgers teased. She knelt right across from him.

"Cause of death?" Bobby asked innocently and, to be honest, rather absently.

"I can tell after the autopsy... but most likely you're fingering it," she replied. "Are you finished?"

"No," he said, shifting his position to look at the legs and shoes.

_Fingering it?_ Alex thought. _Oh my God! He's holding the man's intestines!_

"Uh, Goren…"

"Call me Bobby," he interrupted.

"Sure, whatever... I'm going to be sick!" Alex ran for the nearest trash can, where she spent the next few moments throwing up last night's dinner, leaving Bobby and Rodgers staring after her. A few moments later she was back. "Sorry," she told them. "I'm not usually that squeamish." She glared at Bobby.

_Oh no_, Bobby thought. _There goes the next one. We might set a new record_... 38 minutes, he knew after a look at his watch.

"This," he pulled a card out of the victim's wallet, "explains his liking of German beer. Edgar Schreiber, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany."

"Uh, oh," Alex said, "we'd better be very careful with this one." She didn't know what to make of Bobby, if he knew boundaries, protocol… "We need to be very careful, Goren…"

"I told you, it's just Bobby, and I understand all that."

Eames sighed. "Okay... Bobby" She was then graced by the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

As fast as it had flashed it was gone again. The next second he seemed to be in a far distant place, absorbed in his work.

"So, Eames," he said, putting the wallet into an evidence bag. "We have a stabbed diplomat in the middle of a pile of junk, smelling like a German pub. Looks as if someone really did not like him. He was tossed away like an old shoe."

"So where to next, Sherlock?"

If she was expecting a reaction, he didn't get it. He knew she was trying to get to him, a little test to check out those rumors. He shrugged it off, he was used to it

"I'd say the German Embassy. See what we can pick up from them, where he lived, who he hung out with, where he spent his off time... And then we'll take it from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex said. "And you _can_ call me Alex."

"It _is_ a plan, Eames. Come on, let's get over there."

So Robert Goren and Alex Eames officially began what was to become a long and very successful partnership… having no idea what lay ahead of them.

xxx

When they reached the embassy they had already been announced. One employee guided them to the office of Schreiber's boss, Ambassador Johann Schilling.

"You can do the talking," Bobby offered Alex with a small smile.

Alex stared at him for a second, not at all sure of what, if anything, he had in mind. She was used to going in with a plan. But, she figured she'd go ahead.

"Mr. Ambassador? I'm Detective Eames, this is my partner, Detective Goren." They both showed their badges.

Schilling offered his hand. "And what, Detectives, can I do for you?" he said, talking to Alex but looking at Bobby.

"We're here about the... about one of your diplomats, a Mr. Edgar Schreiber. I'm sorry to say he was found murdered this morning."

"This news has already reached us, Detectives," he said. "Please, take a seat. So we can talk."

"Thanks, sir," Bobby said and sat down in one of the very comfortable chairs opposite of Schiller's desk.

"Well," Alex said, wondering if Bobby was going to say anything at all. "We thought maybe you could help us with... our case."

"Of course," Schilling said, his gaze still fixed on Bobby, "whatever I can do."

"Do you by any chance know where Mr. Schreiber was last night?"

"I'm sorry," Schilling told her. "I don't know his professional schedule and am not at all involved in my employee's personal lives. Perhaps you should check with his secretary... or his driver."

"His driver…" Alex took a note.

"Schreiber's secretary, Miss Weidhase, will give you all information you'll need, including his address, an apartment owned by the embassy.

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador."

Bobby turned in his seat to look around the office. Suddenly he stood again, strolling over to the wall to look at several photos on the cupboard.

"Isn't that you and Mr. Schreiber?" he asked, while Alex was in mid-sentence, "on a fishing boat?"

Schilling looked startled. "Oh... that... Well of course there are various functions we must attend together. That was an official engagement. What I meant was I didn't know him outside of work."

Bobby gave a little half smile and nodded. Alex looked again at her partner, giving him a little silent thumb's up. _Score one for my new partner_, she thought.

"Okay, Mr. Schilling," Alex turned again to the ambassador. "You don't associate with your employees outside of work. Could Mr. Schreiber have come to you, as his employer, for some kind of help? Was he in any kind of trouble?"

Schilling gave her a somewhat smug look. "My dear, that is why we have counselors on our staff, to assist with those kind of things. So, to answer your question, no, Mr. Schreiber did not come to me for help. He did not come to me for money. And he did not come to me for advice about women. He did not come to me all. In fact, we saw very little of each other, even here."

In the meantime Bobby examined a collection of model ships on the shelves. He was just about to pick one up when he was stopped by Schilling.

"What the hell are you doing there?"

"Me?" Bobby answered in a confused voice. "I'm just admiring your little ships here." He grinned sheepishly. "When I was in the army a friend of mine was in the marines and was serving on such a ship," he added. "So, you're trying to tell me that you never exchanged some private words with Mr. Schreiber?"

"Dummer Bulle," Schilling mumbled into his nonexistent beard. "Wie oft soll ich es denn noch sagen?"

„Bis wir es glauben können," Bobby replied in German, with a cute American accent.

Schilling looked at him, frowning deeply.

"I don't have to remind you where you are, do I, Detective?"

Alex did a double take. _What? He's speaking German?_ She shook her head, a little smile on her face. Now, she was impressed. She continued on relentlessly.

"Mr. Schilling, I believe my partner asked you a question. Did you or did you not exchange words in private with Mr. Schreiber?"

Schilling was starting to get a little angry. "And I believe I told you, Detective, that I did not see Mr. Schreiber in private. Now, if you have any more questions..."

"Nah," Bobby threw in. "You can't tell me you never talked about anything off the job. Is he married?"

"Yes he is."

"See…!? That's what I meant. You just don't know you did."

His small smile never vanished. It made Schilling nervous.

"We'll be going now, Mr. Ambassador. Und vielen Dank. Sie waren uns eine große Hilfe."

Schilling bid them goodbye and they left.

"What did you tell him?" Alex asked when they were out in the hall.

"I just said, _thank you, you've been very helpful_." Now he offered her a breathtaking smile. "Our first suspect."

"You count him as suspect?" she wanted to know.

"Right now everyone's a suspect." He grinned, leading the way over to Schreiber's office.

tbc…


	2. I Cant Do That

**New Partner Day**

by Bammi & Runner

_Disclaimer_: No, we don't own them. We don't own the movie either.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews folks!

**Ch 2**

**I can't do that**

Heading over to Schreiber's office, Alex glanced at Bobby furtively a few times, still wondering about him. Bobby, for his part, caught these little glances out of the corner of his eye.

_What kind of impression did I leave?_ He wondered. _Did I impress her at all...? Or did I just scare away the next partner? Maybe I should try and curb myself a bit..._

"Would you clue me in what Schilling said?" Alex demanded. "I want to know when I get insulted."

Bobby shrugged. "Well, he didn't really insult us... he, um, kind of asked how often he had to repeat his answer and I told him that he would have to do this until we could believe him."

"And which part did you not mention?"

He squinted down at her. "The part about dumb cops," he finally said.

"Dumb cops?" Alex bristled. "I'll show him dumb cops!"

"Um, I guess he meant just me…" Bobby took the blame. "Why don't we go see the secretary first?" Bobby suggested. _Maybe I should be scared of __her, _he thought.

"Alright," Alex said, still a little riled up. "We'll get back with him, I'm sure."

After knocking on the door, they were invited in by a very voluptuous blue-eyed blonde. Almost immediately, her eyes roamed over Bobby, who blushed a little. Alex rolled her eyes.

_Why's this guy get all the attention? _she thought._ First Schilling, now this... woman_.

Bobby noticed the interest of the woman and took advantage of it. He approached her desk offering her a small but honest smile.

"Guten Tag, Frau Weidhase," he greeted her. "We're..."

"The detectives," she cut him short.

"Yes, we're the _detectives_. You knew we were coming? You know about Herrn Schreiber?"

Frau Weidhase's big blue eyes filled up with tears. "Of course. It is a very sad thing."

"How well did you know Mr. Schreiber?" Alex jumped right in.

"Oh not very well," Weidhase said. "He was married, you know."

Eames nodded. "But that doesn't mean you didn't know him..."

"Can I find his schedule in here?" Bobby asked and picked up a leather lined calendar. "We need to trace his moves from yesterday."

"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked. "He was in his office till lunch, then he left for some appointments."

"We'll need these dates," Bobby said. "Is the info in here?"

Frau Weidhaus sashayed up to him. She put one hand on the calendar, one hand on Bobby's chest.

"This is not important," she said, attempting to remove the calendar from Bobby's grasp. "Perhaps you should talk to his wife..." Her hand was now rubbing up and down his chest. Finally Bobby smiled. It was not the kind of smile that reaches one's eyes. He removed her hand.

"We _will_ talk to his wife," Bobby said, "but right now we're going to talk to _you_."

Alex stared in amazement. _He's playing her, _she realized_. He's still holding her hand, which she will enjoy, even if it's not meant this way from his side. Man, she doesn't even seem to notice what he's doing to her..._

"So," Bobby said, looking into her eyes, "were you, ah, say we say, on good terms with Herrn Schreiber?"

"Good terms?" she giggled. "Do you mean, were we doing it? A lady doesn't tell. But I'm always open for new... friendships."

Alex rolled her eyes. _Oh boy!_ she thought.

"Friendship?" Bobby laughed, surprising and irritating her, "Is that what you call it? Well, I happen to know that you were quite friendly with Herrn Schreiber."

"Nah..." she replied, now avoiding his look. "I'm not really that close to him." She giggled. " I'm not... um... acceptable for him."

"You? Not acceptable for him?" Bobby sounded incredulous. "I can hardly believe that... a woman like you...?"

_A woman like her?_ Alex wondered. _Man, he's good at lying_.

"He must have had extremely unrealistic standards," Bobby continued," if you are unacceptable to him."

The woman actually blushed. "How high are your standards?" she asked, and Alex actually began to choke.

"Uh, excuse me a moment, I need to see if my partner is okay."

He let go of her hand. Behind his back Frau Weidhase glared at Alex.

"You think I need your help?" Alex whispered, as he turned to her. "You think that, you're wrong."

"I don't... my hand... it... was turning numb."

"In case you haven't noticed… I'm pretty capable of taking care of myself."

"I know," Bobby said, "I just..." _Shit! Didn't plan on pissing her off already! Great start, Goren!_ "I'm sorry, I.."

"Forget it. Goren, your Frau Weidhase is waiting for you." There was just a tad bit of sarcasm in her voice. Bobby turned, and sure enough, Frau Weidhase was staring at him, eyelashes batting...

"So, tell me what you need and I'll see how I can help you," she purred.

"We need his calendar to check his appointments," Bobby said. "We also could do with a list of his partners, clients, friends... as much as you know. And we need to see his office."

"Of course," she said, grinning at him like the Cheshire Cat but obviously thinking she was being seductive. She turned on her heels. "Come with me."

Frau Weidhase led the way, followed by Bobby and Alex. As they entered the room, she suddenly turned. "Do we really need... her?" she asked, looking down at Alex.

Alex saw red, but before she could say a word, Bobby dropped his façade. He stood even taller, a menacing look in his eye.

"My partner? We're joined at the hip... wherever I go, my partner goes, too."

Frau Weidhase looked piqued. She watched them search the office, well, she watched Bobby search the office. So Alex was free to do whatever she liked and she used this opportunity shamelessly. Out of the corners of her eye she watched her new partner dragging the woman's attention each time she was about to turn to her again. So she could have a look at different files while Bobby snooped around the office as if he wasn't interested in anything specific. He picked up this and turned that and finally rummaged through the dustbin.

"By the way," Frau Weidhase said, "do you have a warrant?"

"A...uh, a warrant?" Bobby said, stalling. He took her hand again, but she jerked it back. "No more! As much as I appreciate looking at you, and I do, I cannot allow you to search the premises without a warrant."

The partners looked at each other. Well, all good things must come to an end. They were going to have to get that warrant.

xxx

On the way to the Schreiber's residence, Bobby was very quiet. Alex glanced over at him a few times, he seemed to be in his own little world.

"Bobby..." she started, but got no response. "Bobby!"

Bobby jumped a little. "What?"

"Care to share a few thoughts on the case so far?"

"No..."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I don't really have things...worked out..."

Alex sighed, "Didn't you just say we were partners? We share! Now start sharing, _Bubba_!"

Bobby just looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"Um... it's not... I mean, it's not ready to be shared."

Inwardly Alex rolled her eyes. "Just tell me what you think!" she pushed.

Bobby looked out of the side window, thinking. He was not sure what to tell her. There were several things on his mind but nothing connected so far. He just had stored information and his mind was toying with them to try and put a picture together.

"Hey!" Alex snapped. "Come down from cloud nine! I wanna talk with you!"

Bobby groaned. How to tell her, when it was all still a puzzle to him? "Eames, I…"

"I told you, it's Alex."

"Yeah, okay... you. I mean, Al... Eames. If you don't mind, I'll just call you Eames for today, okay?"

She shook her head. "Alright, just tell me what you've figured out!"

"Uh, nothing..."

"God damnit, Bobby! If I had something to throw at you..."

He really wished he could put it together in his own mind, but it wasn't coming yet.

"I'll tell you when I can," was all he offered.

Alex slammed her hands on the wheel, and Bobby thanked his lucky stars she was driving and couldn't hit him. She did look like she could handle herself pretty well...

The rest of the drive they spent in silence. When they arrived at the Schreiber's residence a woman in livery opened the door. She guided them into a smoking room and asked them to wait while she informed Mrs. Schreiber of her visitors. Then she left.

Bobby was snooping around the room at once. This time Alex became rather annoyed with him. She also took in her surroundings, but what Bobby was doing... well, he was intrusive and nothing like a traditional cop.

"Um... Bobby, exactly where did you get your _cop training_?" Alex asked, watching him wander around the room, picking up photographs, studying them, picking up everything he could get his hands on.

"Same place as you, Eames," he answered, "Why?"

"No reason." She sighed. _Good thing we're not dusting for fingerprints, or he'd find himself in the slammer._

When the maid returned, a woman in her late thirties was in her wake. She stepped forward towards Bobby and introduced herself. "I'm Mrs. Schreiber. I take it that you're the detectives investigating the murder of my husband?"

"Yes, we are," Alex approached her before Bobby could even open his mouth to reply. She was senior detective here and she needed to show that. Not to her, but obviously to him. "I'm Detective Eames, my partner, Detective Goren." She glanced at him. He did not seem to mind, but maybe this was deceiving. "We're sorry for your loss, Mrs. Schreiber," Alex started. "But we need to ask you some questions. Do you feel up for this?"

"Yes, I do...I'm fine..." she said, gesturing to the easy chairs around a small smoking table. "Let's sit down."

_Yeah_, Bobby thought, _she's up to do this... and something else, too_. Inwardly he grinned with the thought of what she had most likely been doing.

But he sat down together with the women. Then he watched Alex take over the conversation. They exchanged some niceties before Alex started to question her about her husband's work and habits, friends and possible enemies.

"How was your relationship to your husband?" he abruptly asked.

Mrs. Schreiber stared at him. "We had a good relationship. If you're trying to imply that I could have a motive, you're on the wrong track."

"Did I say that?" He grinned sheepishly. Then he got up. Slowly he strolled over to the windows. "I assume your husband had a study here? We need to see it."

"Sure," she said and stood. "Come this way..." And she led them outside into the hall.

As if he did it by accident Bobby did not follow right into the study, but turned to another door. "I'd need to go to the restroom," he said. "I can find it... Sorry." And he stumbled right through the bedroom door to find a young man in his underpants.

"I'm so sorry," Bobby said, but was not about to leave. "I was looking for the restroom."

"Well, this is the bedroom… as you can see," the man grunted, pulling his jeans on.

"I'm Detective Goren. And you are…?"

"That's not your business," Mrs. Schreiber threw in angrily. "You wanted to see my husband's study."

"It's not polite to not respond to an introduction, don't you think?" Bobby still talked to the man, who now slipped into a shirt.

"I'm Calvin Fleming," the guy replied.

"And exactly what is your relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Schreiber?" Bobby asked with a sincerity that belied the obvious.

"Detective Goren," Mrs. Schreiber said, "I have to insist that you leave Mr. Fleming alone."

"You insist?" Bobby looked at her incredulously, a smile on his lips. It broadened, until Mrs. Schreiber smiled herself. In the same second Bobby's smile vanished. "But you're not in charge of this investigation," he said. "I say we need to talk with Mr. Fleming." He turned to him. "So, Mr. Fleming, in which relation…"

"I'm the driver assigned to them," Fleming grumbled.

"Assigned by the embassy?" Alex asked.

"Yes."

"We need to talk with you, too, Mr. Fleming," Bobby said.

"I don't have anything to say."

"We'll talk about this at our office," Bobby replied. "You can come voluntarily or…" He left his sentence open, but it was clear what he meant.

"I'll call Dr. Eidson," Mrs. Schreiber told him encouragingly as he slipped on his shoes. "He'll meet you at their squad."

"Yeah," he mumbled, following them out.

"You'll have to wait a moment," Bobby declared. "We still have to have a look at Mr. Schreiber's study."

So Mrs. Schreiber showed them the way and they searched the study thoroughly. They took several items such as his calendar with them, and then left together with Mr. Fleming.

xxx

At One Police Plaza in the Major Case squad rooms, Alex and Bobby now sat with Fleming in one of the task rooms.

"Tell us more about your relationship with Mrs. Schreiber," Bobby encouraged Fleming.

The man did not respond. He just remained silent, as his right to was guaranteed by the Miranda rights.

"Not up to talking today, Mr. Fleming?" Bobby asked. "It would really be in your best interest to help us out here, you know?"

Fleming glared at him. "And just why would I want to help you out?"

"I just told you," Bobby said, rising from his seat to his full 6'4" height. "It's in your best interest."

Fleming looked up from where he sat in his chair, and literally shriveled, being confronted with these words combined with Bobby's impressive build. Then he stood up and ran to the back wall, shrieking. "Oh my God! Somebody help me!"

"Sit down!" Bobby ordered, "SIT DOWN!"

Reluctantly Fleming returned to his chair. Even more slowly he sank down onto it. He could not look up at Bobby, his eyes were fixed on the table.

"Why don't you admit that you are having an affair with Mrs. Schreiber?" Bobby asked. "You don't have to keep it a secret, now that her husband is dead."

"I want a lawyer," Fleming mumbled.

"Of course you can wait for the lawyer Mrs. Fleming wanted to call," Bobby said. "But we're just sitting here and talking. There's no need to be worried."

Still Fleming avoided looking at the detective. So Bobby bent down until he was on eye level with Fleming when he continued, "I won't talk about her or him."

"When you don't want to cooperate, you appear suspicious," Bobby said, bending closer to get into his face.

Fleming tried to look away, but each time he turned his head, Bobby was right there. Fleming clenched and unclenched his fists.

Alex watched, not a bit amused. This was bordering on abuse.

Fleming wanted to smash his fist into the side of Bobby's head. He could almost hear the bones smashing in Bobby's face, and it sounded so good...

"Mr. Fleming," Bobby interrupted his thoughts "Still with us?"

"I want my lawyer!" Fleming said, this time a little more forcefully. "I want to lodge a complaint!"

Alex rolled her eyes. _Great!_ she thought, _this is just what we need, Goren!_

"Oh, c'mon," Bobby chuckled, straightening up, looking hurt. "You can't be serious. Really? You consider _this_ a threat?" He started laughing, hard. "Hear that Eames? He thinks this is a threat!" Bobby continued to laugh as Eames shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and Fleming stared at Bobby, more scared than ever. "If you think this is a threat..." he didn't continue.

Fleming started fuming. "I am serious. Get me your superior! At once."

"You can talk with him in a minute," Bobby said. He let his arms sink and didn't look threatening anymore. He looked rather boyish, a hurt little boy. "I didn't mean to scare you," he continued, approaching the man. Close to him he sat down on the edge of the table that had separated them. "It's just that it really bugs me. You know...? There really is no need to hide it anymore... and once you get started... you can also tell us why Mr. Schreiber had to die."

"I don't know!" Fleming screamed, "God help me, I don't know!" He looked around frantically. "Miss...Detective! If you don't get him out of my face...I will include you in my complaint! This man is..."

Alex suddenly decided she'd had enough. "Bobby, that's enough!"

Bobby turned to look at her, surprised. "Eames?"

"I said that's enough. The man is going to lodge a complaint against us…"

Bobby looked incredulous. "You're going to let a little thing like that get in the way of our investigation?"

_A little thing like that?!_ Alex became furious. Maybe the next thing he'd be calling _little_ would be her! She was not prepared to let anything more happen.

"Let us talk a moment," she snarled, and when he did not react, emphasized, "Outside."

Bobby just stared at her. He was sure that he would have his answer in a minute, an honest answer, whether it was a confession or not... at least it would be the truth. That Alex interfered now would throw or set them back.

"C'mon, Eames," Bobby said, just outside the door. "I almost had him," he added in that wonderfully soft voice.

She was distracted for just a moment. _How can such a big man have such an incredibly soft voice... stop it!_

"Almost had him?!" She was furious. "Almost had him?! The man is lodging a complaint against us!"

Bobby looked offended. "It's just a technicality..."

"A _technicality_ that could get us both thrown off the case! Maybe even out of the NYPD! Do you realize I've never had a complaint lodged against me?! Ever? You…"

"Eames! Look in there!" Alex looked in the room to see Fleming with a smirk that extended well past his face. "He's trying to separate us, Eames. He knows exactly what he's doing... if we stop now... he wins."

Alex was angry, but saw his point. "Okay, we go back in. But if you start with that…"

"Just don't give up on me, okay?" he pleaded, with those incredibly soft brown eyes.

"Alright," she agreed. _For now_. _These puppy dog eyes won't help you when you get us into real trouble_.

So they went in again.

"Okay, let's quit the games," Bobby said, returning to his perch on the table. "Would you now please answer my question?"

"I don't think so," Fleming replied. "I have the right to remain silent and that's what I'll do."

_That's it_, Bobby thought. _He'll shut down like an oyster because my partner could not follow me..._

"Remain silent, huh? Is there a reason for that, Mr. Fleming?"

"Huh?" Fleming looked confused.

"It seems to me if you had nothing to hide you would be a bit more forthcoming."

"Huh?"

"See, Eames, I told you... he knows something, that's why he won't talk. If he didn't know anything, he'd prove it by talking."

Alex tried to hide her confusion and nodded. "You're right, he's guilty..."

"You son of a bitch!" Fleming snarled. He launched himself at Bobby, who smoothly side-stepped him, causing Fleming to fall to the floor.Now Alex _did_ look confused. Bobby turned back to Fleming.

"Guilty of withholding evidence, guilty of…"

"You son of a bitch!"Fleming repeated. He jumped to his feet and tried to get to Bobby again. Once more Bobby let him run into open space. This time his speed carried him into Alex' direction and he almost hit her, but he threw her off balance.

"You don't want to attack my partner, do you?" Bobby grumbled. He grabbed Fleming by his shirt and flung him into the wall. "Cause if you want to do _that_ I'm going to be _really_ annoyed with you." His voice grew louder until he roared, "And you don't want me to be annoyed with you, you can believe that."

"Help!" Fleming screamed as loud as he could, even if Bobby did not so much as lay a finger onto him.

All Alex could see from where she went down was that Bobby had grabbed him. She did not see that Bobby got a nasty blow below the belt, but she could see that her new partner hit Fleming, twice, put his hands around his neck…

That was when two detectives stormed in to separate the fighters. Deakins followed in their wake.

"Goren!" he thundered. "What the hell happened? Eames?"

"I haven't seen…" she started to say, scrambling to her feet.

"I want to lodge a complaint!" Fleming was wailing. "My nose! My throat! This guy's dangerous!"

Their co-workers brought him out.

"Okay!" Deakins demanded. "Spit it out!"

Bobby was pale, but not ready to tell anyone where he had been hit. Actually he was fighting sickness. He did not trust his voice and he did not trust his stomach.

Alex looked at Bobby, searching for an answer to her own questions, but she could see that she would not get one. Yet, she remained silent.

"Bobby?" Deakins queried.

"He… went crazy on me."

"Yeah, I've seen that." Deakins was quite annoyed. "What have you done?"

But Bobby did not talk. He still tried to calm down his insides.

"Alex?"

She hated to do that, but right then, she did not think that she had another choice.

"He provoked him," she said. "Then he attacked Fleming."

Bobby looked at her incredulously. He had experienced a lot during the last weeks, trying to find a partner at his new squad, but none of them had hurt him so badly like Alex just did. It had been self defense! Why did she not tell him?

"Bobby, maybe it'd be better if you call it a day. We'll talk tomorrow."

Bobby could read quite well between the lines. Tomorrow would be his last day in Major Case. He sighed.

"Yes, Sir," he said. Then he went and left the squad room without looking back once.

"I'm sorry, Alex," Deakins turned to his current lead detective. "I really thought this might work out."

"Well, it didn't," she said. "Who will be his next partner?"

He looked at her questioningly. "His next partner?"

"Yes," she nodded. "His next partner."

Deakins swallowed. _This was his last chance,_ he thought. _He's already been partnered with everyone else._ But he did not voice it.

"I have paperwork to do." With that Alex returned to her desk and vanished between stacks of papers.

Now Deakins sighed. There she went out the door, Bobby's last chance. He could imagine what she was writing there.

He went back to his office and sat down at his desk. It didn't take long for Alex to appear at his door. Wordlessly she handed him an envelope. When she went back out he looked at it wearily. Then he opened it and unfolded the paper.

_Dear Captain Deakins,_

_I know I should weigh my words more carefully, but to use my absence while I was on loan back to Vice to partner me up with such an oddball… you can't be serious!_

_I don't see any way for us to get attuned to each other, because Detective Goren's erratic and anti-social behavior, his volatile and bizarre interrogation techniques lead me to have doubts about his judgment and mental stability._

_I'm very sorry, Sir, but I can't do that! It just crosses a line._

_I kindly ask you to meet my request benevolently and to partner me again with Daffy Oafish. I thank you for your understanding._

_Yours faithfully,_

_Alexandra Eames_

Captain Deakins stared at the letter for several long minutes. Then he let it drop and hid his face behind his hands. Damn! Sometimes he hated this job.

xxx

When Angie Deakins came down the stairs about half past five in the morning she found her husband sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, staring at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Jimmie," she scolded. "What are you doing? Have you slept at all?"

"Yes, I did," he sighed. "But then I woke up early. I was too agitated to feel sleepy at all so I went down here. I didn't want to disturb you."

"What is it, Jimmie?" she gently pushed. "Trouble on the job?"

"It's because of Bobby Goren," he mumbled, looking at the paper again. "This is a letter Alex Eames gave me last evening. You remember Alex, right? She was partnered up with our newbie yesterday morning and she already wants to quit, asking for another partner."

"Oh, Jimmie."

"Yeah." He let the letter fall on the coffee table and sank back into the cushions. "I know what Bobby is capable of. He's an enrichment for the squad! That's why I want to keep him there. But since he came to join us, these six weeks Alex was off on loan to Vice, he already went through every single detective of MCS. Now, I don't feel so good when I let him go out in the field without a partner."

"You thought Alex as his partner might finally work out?"

"Yes." He stared into the fire. "Alex Eames is one branch of a whole family of cops. She's been with the force since she left high school. She's capable, witty and no-nonsense. I really thought she could handle him. I didn't think she would quit so fast."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." Once more he sighed. "I kind of wish Voodoo would work… then I could bewitch him. I don't know in which way, but… I would only let him get away when he could finally keep a partner."

"What a pity that it doesn't work," Angie chuckled.

"Yeah."

Jimmie Deakins picked up the letter and stared at it, annoyed. "I asked her to think at least one or two days about it, but she was adamant. She said she'd rather go back to Vice, even if this would be a setback for her career."

In a rush of fury he balled the paper and threw it across the room.

"I wish damned Bobby Goren could keep his partner!" he yelled. His move was so furious and forcefully that the band of his watch opened and it slid from his wrist, flying away together with the letter.

Both landed into the fire. The paper instantly was aflame and crumpled to ashes while the glass of the watch cracked. Its hands stopped at exactly 05:59.

* * *

tbc... 


	3. First meeting two

**New Partner Day**

by Bammi & Runner

Disclaimer: No, we don't own them. We don't own the movie either.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews! And this is NOT the first chapter!!! LOL :) So read carefully… :D

**Ch 3**

**First meeting two**

When the digital numbers flipped onto 06:00 am the radio crackled to life and started with an announcement:

_In New York City's war on crime the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the Detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories._

_doing doing_

A music piece followed, shaking Bobby out of sleep. He plopped back down in bed... this wasn't how he wanted their first day as partners to start... With him getting a royal headache, due to the play they were airing on the radio, right when the alarm started.

First day... new partner... everything had to be perfect today. He definitely didn't want this to be another missed chance with a partner, he had already been through too many. All he knew about his new partner was that his name was Alex, because he had been too busy to even look into his record. Damn it, this time it was going to work.

After his morning shower he shaved. It was not necessary to greet his new partner with three day's stubble. When he finally was dressed he looked like the prototype of a high profile case working cop: moderately elegant and trustworthy. Yes, he could go like this. He skipped breakfast because he was, yes, kind of nervous and headed for his car.

Of course, first thing, the car wouldn't start. Great! He fiddled around a bit, checked his watch, and decided he couldn't wait. Bobby cocked his head at the car. _Seems like I always have car trouble,_ he thought. He cocked his head again, then shrugged. _Oh crap! _Now he didn't even have time to walk to the subway, he'd be lucky to make it if he ran.

So he took off as fast as he could, inwardly cursing because he would now be sweaty due to the run, but he had to manage to be at One Police Plaza in time. One last corner, then he would head downstairs. When he rounded it, he ran right into a young woman, more precisely into the leashes of the five dogs she was walking.

Bobby, the woman, both fell in heap, half on top of the dogs, half the dogs on top of them. Next thing they knew, they were all tangled up together, both trying desperately to escape. Finally, they both burst out laughing.

"Sorry," Bobby started, a little embarrassed.

"It's okay," she said, blushing a little.

As both tried to stand up, helping the other, the dogs jumped on them, knocking them both down again. Now both laughed, a little less heartily this time, as Bobby checked his watch again. Bobby started to get up, then sat back down, somehow realizing it was fruitless. At least as long as the dogs used him as jumping board. They tied him up even more and so he was more than a little mussed.

"Wait, wait," the woman pleaded. "You'll never get loose when you wriggle around like that." She tried to calm him down while she disentangled the leashes.

There he went. That was the first time he felt odd, like having some kind of déjà vu, and the thought _why_ he might feel this way crossed his mind.

A bit clumsily he got up again. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "You're okay?" _Didn't I say that before?_

"Yes. You were in a hurry. Off you go, off."

She shooed him away and he ran to the subway station.

The train was getting ready to leave.

"NO!" Bobby yelled. _This is not going to happen,_ he thought, just making it into the car as the doors slid shut - catching the end of his jacket, stopping him dead. What stopped him just as effectively was the feeling that this actually _had happened_ before. He shook his head to chase the strange feelings away.

Bobby sighed, and started pulling at his jacket. Finally it came loose, or at least the part in his hand. The rest was still caught in the door. Again Bobby checked his watch. _Still might make it_, he thought. Then catching his reflection in the window, _although not exactly the best impression I was trying to make..._

During the ride he tried to clean himself up a bit. He sighed at the look at his appearance.

_This will impress him, _he thought_. And I already know what Deakins will say...what? how the hell? Oh, yeah, the jacket. Wonder if there will be another jacket in my locker at the crib._

At his final destination he left the train and sprinted up the stairs, then over to Police Plaza, passing the Five Boroughs sculpture, and heading into the headquarters.

As he entered the plaza, one of the detectives stopped him.

"Hey Goren!" Noticing Bobby's disheveled look, he said sarcastically, "going undercover?"

Bobby was stopped short. _Didn't Johnson say that yesterday?_ He already thought about cleaning the guy's clock, but for lack of time decided against it. Besides, what kind of impression would that make on his new partner? And first impressions _did_ count. He knew they did and he had a feeling that today would be especially important! _You never get a second chance to make a first impression,_ his mother used to say. This day could change his live forever! At least that was what was brewing in the back of his mind.

Taking another look at his clothes, knowing his face was dirty and his hair all mussed, Bobby decided, undercover it is! At least that's where he'd tell his new partner he'd been.

Entering the squad room he looked over to Deakins' office where the blinds were drawn.

Maybe he made it in time? He got the other jacket out of his locker and just stopped long enough at his desk to read one of the notes left there which also was eerily familiar, then he continued to his boss' office.

"Good luck," one of his colleagues mumbled, but not to Bobby but to his own partner. "He'll need it."

Bobby turned to shoot a dead glare at his ex-partners_. Good luck... good luck... _why was that so familiar? Even worse was the feeling that he knew he was going to need it. _Man! this déjà vu stuff is really weird today!__Well, my new partner can't be all bad, I think... surely not any worse than any other major case squad detective. _Taking one last glance around the bullpen, his eyes fell on Detective Hardass. _Oh God! _Bobby thought_. If he's any indication… this could be bad..._

Straightening up he knocked and entered Deakins office.

In his nervousness, he completely forgot about his appearance that wasn't changed much with the fresh jacket, and strode in confidently.

Deakins stared at him. _Good God, Goren, can't you even try?_

Bobby stopped short, looking at the petite blonde standing in front of him. A jolt of recognition hit him that he tried to hide. He knew he'd met her before. Where did he meet her? He could not remember…

Deakins sighed, "Detective Goren, meet your new partner, Alex Eames. Alex, this is... Robert Goren."

Bobby held out his hand. Very hesitantly, Alex held out her hand in return, squinting in alarm at the dirty mess in front of her.

Suddenly Bobby remembered… _undercover. Bad idea! What else…?_ "Oh, I'm uh... I've had an accident..."

Deakins raised one eyebrow in astonishment. _He seems to be quite nervous. He knows this might be his last chance… And what kind of accident may that have been?_

Alex on the other hand was quite surprised to hear him stutter.

"Alex just returned from an assignment with Vice, her former squad," Deakins said, when his phone rang. He answered the call and his features became even more stern.

"Your call," he said, scribbling down an address. "Rodgers is already there. Keep me in the loop."

_Great!_ Bobby thought. _This one is ours, I can see it now: a junkyard… what? where the hell did that come from? I don't even know the address!_ "Uh, where exactly is this place?" he asked tentatively.

Alex looked at him. "Does it matter?" she asked.

_Maybe not to you,_ he thought, _but it does to me..._

"Well, uh, partner, you ready for our first case?" Bobby asked instead.

"Yes, I am," Alex wasn't at all sure she was ready, but she went with it. "So what happened to you?" she queried on their way to the elevators.

"What?" Bobby said, "what do you…? Oh, this…" He actually blushed a little with embarrassment. "My car did not start."

"Your car did not start?" Alex was all but laughing.

"Um… yeah... it didn't," Bobby stammered.

"And that's why you make the impression to work with K-9s, too? Cause you kind of smell like a dog," Alex saw him blush even deeper. She wasn't sure what to make out of him.

_She has a good nose_, Bobby thought. _I'm curious to find out if she'll use it at the scene, too_.

xxx

Arriving at the scene and being shown the way to the dead body, they noticed that it was a place with various smells.

"Ah... lots of smells! Now we're getting into my territory!" Bobby murmured. _I DID say that before,_ he thought.

Alex squinted up at him with dismay, as they crossed the distasteful smelling junkyard, approaching the victim's remains. Of course they were used to encounter all kinds of odors when they came to a crime scene, often quite offensive smells, but she never had heard someone talk about that so enthusiastically.

"What do you...ewwww!" She was taken aback. "What are you doing?"

Bobby was kneeling next to the body, his nose almost in the man's face. "Beer," he said and stopped short again. He knew this smell! "German beer, Köstrizer Schwarzbier, by the smell of it," he mumbled, suddenly insecure, because he felt that something was wrong. He pushed the thought away. He could not afford to become distracted.

Eames backed up a few feet. _Oh, dear God!_ she thought. _What have I gotten myself in to?_

Next moment Bobby searched the suit of the man. Then he bowed closer over his abdomen to examine the stab wounds. Cautiously he poked them with his gloved hand.

"Trying to do my job again, Goren?" M.E. Rodgers teased, and this time Bobby actually jumped up.

"W…what did... you say?"

Both Eames and Rodgers stared at him.

"I was just teasing," Rodgers said, "I was just asking…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, _if I was trying to do your job_…" _Where have I heard that before? Has she ever said that to me before? _Now he was getting downright jumpy.

"Cause of death?" Bobby asked innocently. "Never mind, you'll know after the autopsy, and I'm no doubt fingering it."

Again they stared at him.

_He took my words right out of my mouth,_ Rodgers wondered.

_Fingering it?_ Alex thought. _Oh my God! He's holding the man's intestines! What have I gotten myself into?_

"Uh, Goren…"

"Call me Bobby," he interrupted.

"Sure, whatever... I'm going to be sick!" Alex ran for the nearest trash can.

_I knew she was going to do that,_ Bobby thought vaguely.

Alex spent the next few moments throwing up last night's dinner, leaving Bobby and Rodgers staring after her.

A few moments later she was back. "Sorry," she told them. "I'm not usually that squeamish." She glared at Bobby. She was furious at him, and herself, because he had made her feel, and throw up, like a bloody rookie.

_Oh no_, Bobby thought. _There goes the next one. We might set a new record_... 38 minutes, he knew without to look at his watch. _How…?_ He was puzzled. _Why do I remember that?_

"This," he pulled a card out of the victim's wallet, "explains his liking of German beer. Edgar Schreiber, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany."

"Uh, oh," Alex said, "we'd better be—"

"very careful with this one," Bobby finished for her, surprising himself. "Protocol, you know?"

Alec stared at him. She still did not know what to make of Bobby, if he knew boundaries, protocol. Apparently he did. "Uh, yes. We need to be very careful, Goren…"

Bobby smiled at her, and wondered about himself. "I told you, it's just Bobby, and I understand all that." Oh yes, he did. Still he had this peculiar feeling to relive this whole scene. He tried to remember who they might meet at the embassy… Ambassador Schilling? Why did he know a name? Once more he chased the thought away.. instead of this last line why don't we put something like_-- __I don't know about this de ja vu stuff,_ he thought, _but I am_ _liking it!!_

Eames sighed. "Okay... Bobby." Once again, she was then graced by the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

As fast as it had flashed it was gone again. Right the next second he seemed to be at a far distant place, absorbed in his work. Seemed to be! Bobby knew why he had smiled at her like that. To assure her that he wasn't as bad as he might appear. Did it work?

"So, Eames," he said, putting the wallet into an evidence bag. "We have a stabbed diplomat in the middle of a pile of junk, smelling like a German pub. Looks as if someone really did not like him. He was thrown away like an old shoe."

"So where to next, Sherlock?"

If she was expecting a reaction, he didn't get it. He knew she was trying to get to him, a little test to check out those rumors… which certainly had spread from Narcotics through the whole NYPD. He shrugged it off, he was used to it

"I'd say the German Embassy. See what we can pick up from them, where he lived, who he hung out with, where he spent his off time... And then we'll take it from there."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex said. _Why the hell is he calling me Eames when he insists on being called his nickname?_ "And you _can_ call me Alex."

"It is a plan, Eames. Come, let us get over there."

She frowned as he once more called her by her last name but she kept her mouth shut. She would watch him for a while.

She did not know what lay ahead of them.

xxx

One employee of the embassy already awaited them when they arrived there. He guided them to the office of Schreiber's boss, Ambassador Johann Schilling.

"You can do the talking," Bobby offered Alex with a small smile.

For a second Alex stared up to him.. "Don't we need—"

"No need for a plan, Eames," Bobby offered. "We'll just play it by ear."

_Well, that'll mean that I'll go ahead. _She turned to the ambassador and began,

"Mr. Ambassador? I'm Detective Eames, this is my partner, Detective Goren." They both presented their badges.

Schilling offered his hand. "And what, Detectives, can I do for you?" he said, talking to Alex but looking at Bobby.

"We're here about the... about one of your diplomats, a Mr. Edgar Schreiber. I'm sorry to say he was found murdered this morning."

"This news already reached us, Detectives," he said.

"I know," Bobby put in, causing both Eames and Schreiber to look at him. How did he know?

"Please, take a seat. So we can talk."

"Thanks, sir," Bobby said and sat down in one of the very comfortable chairs opposite of Schiller's desk.

"Well," Alex said, wondering if Bobby was going to say anything at all. "We thought maybe you could help us with... our case."

"Of course," Schilling said, still his gaze fixed on Bobby, "whatever I can do."

Bobby felt slightly uncomfortable. Even though they'd just met, he felt like the guy was always staring at him.

"Do you by any chance know where Mr Schreiber was last night?"

"I'm sorry," Schilling told her. "I don't know his professional schedule and am not at all involved in my employee's personal lives. Perhaps you should check with his secretary... or his driver."

"His driver…" Alex took a note, and Bobby said simultaneously along with Schreiber: "MissWeidhaus will give us all the information."

"Schreiber's secretary, Miss Weidhase, will give you all information you'll need, including his address, an apartment owned by the embassy". Schilling's stare grew more intent, "You know Miss Weidhaus?"

Alex looked at Bobby for an explanation, too.

"Uh, no…I …I think I saw her name…somewhere…" Bobby mumbled. Maybe this de ja vux stuff wasn't so neat after all.

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador." Alex finished.

Bobby turned in his seat to look around the office. Suddenly he stood again, strolling over to the wall to look at several photos on the cupboard.

"Isn't that you and Mr. Schreiber?" he asked, while Alex was in mid-sentence, "on a fishing boat?"

Schilling looked startled. "Oh... that... Well of course there are various functions we must attend together. That was an official engagement. What I meant was I didn't know him outside of work."

Bobby gave a little half smile and nodded. He knew…just knew somehow he would make points with Eames now. How he knew didn't impress his as much as Eames' next move. Alex looked again at her partner, giving him a little silent thumb's up. _Score one for my new partner_, she thought.

"Okay, Mr. Schilling," Alex turned again to the ambassador. "You don't associate with your employees outside of work. Could Mr. Schreiber have come to you, as his employer, for some kind of help? Was he in any kind of trouble?"

Before Schilling even said a word, Bobby said to Alex, "smug bastard."

Schilling gave her a somewhat smug look, and Alex looked once again at Bobby. "My dear, that is why we have counselors on our staff, to assist with those kind of things. So, to answer your question, no, Mr. Schreiber did not come to me for help. He did not come to me for money. And he did not come to me for advice about women. He did not come to me all, in fact, we saw very little of each other, even here."

In the meantime Bobby examined a collection of model ships on the shelves. He was just about to pick one up when he was stopped by Schilling.

"What the hell are you doing there?"

"Me?" Bobby answered in a confused voice, already ready with an answer. "I'm just adoring your little ships here." He grinned sheepishly. "When I was in the army a friend of mine was in the marines and was serving on such a ship," he added. "So, you're trying to tell me that you never exchanged some private words with Mr. Schreiber?"

"Dummer Bulle," Schilling mumbled into his nonexistent beard. "Wie oft soll ich es denn noch sagen?"

„Bis wir es glauben können," Bobby replied in German, with some cute American accent.

Schilling looked at him, frowning deeply.

"I don't have to remind you where you are, do I, Detective?"

Alex did a double take. _What? He's speaking German?_ She shook her head, a little smile on her face. Now, she was impressed. She continued on relentlessly.

"Mr. Schilling, I believe my partner asked you a question. Did you or did you not exchange words in private with Mr. Schreiber?"

Schilling was starting to get a little angry. "And I believe I told you, Detective, that I did not see Mr. Schreiber in private. Now, if you have any more questions..."

"Nah," Bobby threw in. "You can't tell me you never talked about something out of the job. Is he married?"

"Yes he is."

"See…!? That's what I meant. You just don't know you did."

His small smile never vanished. It made Schilling nervous.

"We'll be going now, Mr. Ambassador. Und vielen Dank. Sie waren uns eine große Hilfe."

Schilling bid them goodbye and they left.

"What did you tell him?" Alex asked when they were out in the hall.

"I just said, _thank you, you've been very helpful_." Now he offered her a breathtaking smile. "Our first suspect."

"You count him as suspect?" she wanted to know.

"Right now everyone's a suspect." He grinned, leading the way over to Schreiber's office.

tbc…


End file.
